Hatnua chairwoman says will consider joining Netanyahu-led government if peace process is made a priority

Yuval Karni |Published: 05.02.13 , 11:26

Although Hatnua Chairwoman Tzipi Livni
has declared in the past that she will not join a government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sans the joining of other Centrist-Leftist parties, she has now changed her tune.

In conversations with members of her party, she has stated that she will not object to any collation which can lead to a political process.

"I am unwilling to deny in advance sitting in a certain coalition headed by Benjamin Netanyahu,
under the condition that we lead the political process, as promised during the election campaigns.

"Hatnua was the only party to wave the political flag so the question of whether we will enter the government or not, will be assessed only in regards to the political process," said Livni. The implications of such a statement point at Livni's willingness to join a government which does not include Yesh Atid or its chairman, Yair Lapid.

Netanyahu will meet with Labor Chairwoman Shelly Yachimovich
on Tuesday in an additional attempt to lure her into joining the government. Yachimovich willingly agreed to the invitation, but clarified in advance that the party does not intend on joining a Netanyahu-led government.

According to a Yedioth Ahronoth report, senior officials associated with the prime minister and Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman,
have said that the agreement between the two that the Foreign Ministry portfolio will remain in Lieberman's hands, is still valid, and that contrary to various reports on the subject, "Lieberman is not giving up on the Foreign Ministry."